When "Krap" Is Food And Not Rude

This Is Another Gem From The Depths, Gentle Readers

Or maybe even Gentile readers.  For Lo! another word came bubbling up from the subconscious last night: "Kreplach".

     There was no guarantee that this word is real and exists in the world, so once I recollected it at work - where I am now typing these lines - because Conrad forgot to write it down last night, I did a quick check and do you know -

      

     Well, I feel like tormenting you a little.  I need to stay in practice to retain my Licence To Evil, you know.  Okay, so is the Kreplach:

1. A sinister wolfish animal from Central European mythology, with glaring red eyes the size of dinner plates? (see above if unclear)
2. A set of chess moves as created by Botvinnik in the Thirties?
3. Filled dumplings as cooked in Jewish households?

Botvinnik.  Not a dumpling.  Just so we're clear.

     

     Okay, you probably guessed because of today's title.  It's the dumpling.  A little dull when compared to a beast of the night that will rip your throat out if you twitch the wrong way; well, you can't have everything.
     The word 'Kreplach' is a Yiddish plural of 'Krepl' which itself is a diminutive of the Teuton 'Krap', which is derived from 'Krappe' which is (finally) a name given to a small piece of pastry.  Art!

There you go, dumplings in chicken soup.  They come with all sorts of fillings, and can either be boiled (as in the soup above) or fried.  Sounds pretty filling stuff, no pun intended.  "Kreplach!" still sounds plosive enough that you could use it instead of Dog Buns! as an official BOOJUM! SFW swear, and we might just do that.

     Hmmm.  There was a snuffling noise in the dark outside just now.  And - surely those were brake-lights?  I shall give the motley a stick and send it to look.

The Haul

Today Your Humble Scribe was on a rescue mission into deepest grimmest grimiest Gomorrah-on-the-Irwell, where I have not been for purposes of work for a good year and a day. 

     "But - what is this?  Conrad putting his elderly, flabby and enormously cowardly carcase at risk in the defence of some fair damosel?" I hear you query.  "Is Shelli in trouble with those dragons again?"  Pausing only to note that I WILL get you back for that crack, allow me to explicate.

     But first - Art!

     The dismal prospect from my window.  One rather suspects that this is the type of weather that Shakespearmint was whanging on in refard of when he described " - hover in the fog and filthy air." 

     Okay, the rescue mission was successful.  Art!

The haul

     All this valuable content resided in my pedestal, and it would have been DESTROYED had I not removed it.  Conrad also binned a lot of confidential waste, and an opened bag of porridge oats that had been sitting there since March 2020 SEE I CAN THROW AWAY FOOD!  I CAN!  I CAN!  We will be assigned lockers in September, which cannot be used to store food.  O Noes!  Am I going to have to bring in a daily ration of porridge oats?  And what about toast?  I need my wholemeal toast!

  The sharper-eyed amongst you will have noticed that enormous hardback book, and will be quizzing yourself about how Conrad, noted bibliophile, could have left such a work at work rather than bring it home.  Well ...

Aptly Named!

For your edification and education, the name "Vincent" ultimately comes from the Latin <hack spit> "Vincere" meaning "Conqueror".  There's probably an association with "Victor" too, except that would be too tangential to the current tangent.

     ANYWAY take a closer look at that terrific tome.  Art!

     Ol' Vinnie was a hot-shot shot-hot prosecuting attorney, as they describe these things in South Canada.  He lost one case out of 106 that he prosecuted, which loss did not include any of the 21 murder prosecutions he won.  He was a formidable legal opponent and also a prolific author, which is where we come to the above.  Ol' Vinnie revered the truth above all else, and he sat in judgement on decades of conspiracy theories about the assassination of JFK, 183 of them by one critic's assessment of RHTAOPJFK.  The loonwaffles do not come out of it well.  I shall probably come back to this, as there's three inches of book to get through.  Art!

Hmmm don't know if I can even read this - it's from 2007

     Western Springs' loss is my gain.  Incidentally, the book was quite expensive, which is fine because it's an enormous hardback in very good condition, yet the postage was only £5, which goes to show how much some vendors are ripping off customers with charges of £20 and upwards for much smaller books*.

     Hmmmm.  There was a strangled scream a little while ago, and the motley hasn't re-appeared**.  Time to lock the back door, methinks.

When It Rains, It Pores

Ho ho, how clever am I! <pauses for applause, gets none, sulks>.  I am talking of that very gifted actor Claude Rains, whom we last met at the end of the First Unpleasantness, still sporting a Cockney accent and with a speech impediment.  He was told by the founder of RADA, Sir Herbert Tree, that, to succeed, he would need to get rid of both Cockney and impediment.  Sir Tree, putting his money where his mouth was, paid for elocution lessons and books that Claude studied and practiced from.  Every day.  Every single day. Art!

Claude in one of his better-known roles.

     Surprise surprise, all that poring over books worked, and you thus had Ol' Claude sporting a splendid mid-Atlantic accent of extreme suaveness, which befitted him well when he had to play villains***.

     We shall come back to Claude, there's more to his tale.

Finally -

Many years ago Your Humble Scribe had a footprint over at the Fanfiction website, where he published an interlinked set of stories about UNIT, set in the UK.  Also a few novel-length screeds that dealt head-on with various iterations of The Doctor.  They rather withered on the vine when Conrad began blogging <shudders disbelievingly> eight years ago because BOOJUM! eats up a lot of spare time.

     However, I did dive back in to read about Lieutenant Walmsley and his gallant band of 'beardy-weirdies' recently and can give a musing thumbs-up to them all these years later.  I suppose a link would be in order?

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/2526238/1/UNIT-UK

     Crikey!  From 2005!  O how long ago that is now ...

Chin chin!

*  Bleating "Covid!  Covid!  Covid!" only goes so far.

**  Don't worry, motleys are cheap and afforable.  Also expendable.

***  Hollywood Casting Cliche #7:  Need a convincing villain?  Choose a British character actor!